GAIL to expand into petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, renewables

The Chairman of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Manoj Jain, told the media that GAIL is looking for expansion in petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, and renewables since it pivots a new strategy to expand its business beyond natural gas. GAIL, the nation's largest gas marketer and shipper, has taken up a revised future blueprint, known as Strategy 2030, to define its journey through the future decade. In an interview, he said that this strategic plan would help to address challenges in the changing industries and provide new growth fields with geographic expansion. The company will convert its Usar LPG plant into 500,000 tonnes per annum polypropylene complex, with an estimated investment of Rs 8,800 crore by 2023-24. He said that the company would explore opportunities in petrochemicals to meet the high future demand for polyethylene and polypropylene. The company is communicating with the city gas licence holder to set up liquified natural gas (LNG) dispensing stations on National Highways to supply fuel to buses and trucks. It is also setting up a compressed biogas (CBG) plant to convert municipal waste into CNG for use in automobiles and cooking purposes. Jain said that the company also plans to set up ethanol units to convert agricultural waste into less polluting fuels, which can be doped in petrol to help in cutting India's import dependence. GAIL is setting up its first compressed biogas (CBG) plant in Ranchi at Rs 200-300 crore. This facility will produce five tonnes of CBG every day and around 25 tonnes of bio-manure by using municipal waste. It has invited an expression of interest (EoI) seeking partners to set up CBG plants. The company also plans to set up ethanol manufacturing units, he said. GAIL has recently signed an agreement with Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL). Under this agreement, CCSL will initially build four CBG plants through its funds, technology, and expertise. These CBG plants will be based upon a 10-year offtake agreement with GAIL or its associate companies. Image Source Also read: GAIL bifurcation put on hold Also read: GAIL may split, to launch InvIT